Crooked Heart: A Novel - Hardcover

Evans, Lissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062364839 ISBN 13: 9780062364838

Publisher: Harper, 2015

Synopsis

Paper Moon meets the Blitz in this original black comedy, set in World War II England, chronicling an unlikely alliance between a small time con artist and a young orphan evacuee.

When Noel Bostock—aged ten, no family—is evacuated from London to escape the Nazi bombardment, he lands in a suburb northwest of the city with Vera Sedge—a thirty-six-year old widow drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she’s unscrupulous about how she gets it.

Noel’s mourning his godmother Mattie, a former suffragette. Wise beyond his years, raised with a disdain for authority and an eclectic attitude toward education, he has little in common with other children and even less with the impulsive Vee, who hurtles from one self-made crisis to the next. The war’s provided unprecedented opportunities for making money, but what Vee needs—and what she’s never had—is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.

On her own, she’s a disaster. With Noel, she’s a team.

Together, they cook up a scheme. Crisscrossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war—and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn’t actually safe at all. . . . 

About this title

About the Author:

Lissa Evans has written books for both adults and children, including Their Finest Hour and a Half, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize. Crooked Heart was also longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize); it is her first novel to be published in the US. Evans lives in London with her family.

Review:

“I try not to say, ‘If there’s one novel you should read this summer..’ but Crooked Heart tempts me to say it.” (Scott Simon, NPR)

“Wonderful.” (Boston Globe)

“Glorious. I loved every line of this book.” (Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train)

“Evans’ exceptionally engaging “Crooked Heart” brings effervescent wit and oddball whimsy to a venerable formula....The entire novel is a joy from start to finish: briskly paced, taut and snappy with humor and, ultimately, sweet.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

“At the crooked heart of this lovely novel is an odd-couple relationship reminiscent of Moses and Addie in the film Paper Moon, between an odd, clever, and lonely boy and a dodgy, desperate woman. Their reliance on each other is credible, touching and funny.” (Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy)

“I loved this book. Lissa Evans is a wonderful writer; Vee and Noel are utter originals, and their journey made me laugh and cry.” (Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You)

“In ‘Crooked Heart,’ Lissa Evans’s absorbing and atmospheric comic novel, another quietly heroic orphan joins the canon....This is a wonderfully old-fashioned Dickensian novel, with satisfying plot twists....Both darkly funny and deeply touching....It’s a crooked journey, straight to the heart.” (New York Times Book Review)

“The most purely charming read of the summer.... The novel’s heart may be crooked, but it is completely in the right place. And if wanting a happy ending for this offbeat pair is wrong, I can’t imagine a reader on earth who would want to be right.” (Christian Science Monitor)

“A heartwarming tale about a lonely young boy and a cunning middle-aged woman who find solace in each other.” (Nylon)

“Crooked Heart explores the Blitz during World War II from two utterly inventive perspectives.... A charming, slanted counterpoint to Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.” (Library Journal, starred review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0062364839
• ISBN 13: 9780062364838
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288